Detonating mechanism



E. E. WINKLEY DETONATING MECHANI SM Filed Jan. 21, 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet lFf'g l 1445775 55 Inventor April 22, 1924. 1,491.452

E. E. WINKLEY DETONATING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 21, 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet 2a; 1924,. 1,491,452 UNITE-ESTATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Em a .I I: I If r??? A h The meansfor placing thguperp sgwnhml however,the shaft fi has *pgfiation for a predetermined length bf time, whichwill be the casemllgn the= vehicle cani' ving the explosive hasbeen-i'n' prdfgsidfi' via certain 12 h of time, the pet-gussipnjlpmmerl0 1.:becocked-or under me: 10 under pressufe dxisxs'fdf 1i; s'pi'ing20,- the ugpgat end of whiehgncirples-Ia :lug

9 h hi l alli inrthe 'patlisdf mQtion ,the grin 31 k outer and 'is thn??? :b Qi bt'ix; gag ment wi hth pm'patiqnig i- 1 ging. the lattergclqcupper end,- lsfprcdundexr Mini; kiii-hifi idf its barb 54; is. normallyh'elgl nigfizhe position showy-in. Fi 1, b fliQnn' igelizenlppip stop 36on :tfie' hbioi 35. wit lthegdhcent inner s'ide o'ftheepd 18ofthe,ca;sir 1'g. V, en the arm 2801f thefidclgingflleifllf has bmn forcedunder the barb 34 'o'f. thgflhadki 35mm; shown] in =Fig .3,.'btherotafion'fqith e am: 31, it is there'aftgr: 'ltl'imflut posifiqn. :Ifthe. destination of frhe .vgh icl;jbaprying the emplqsive is n t gush; aldistaimeithag-bhenarm 31; which rotate'soqnstantl yiziyhilqxhqfmainshaft 6 rotates, performs-'everal .mwlm

29- as it. passes the httqqf-biii 1mm no eifeglg either-,m lqauqmg anactqatzgn of vthe percussion; means,;0r

wifigi ne: of mountingthe jack sha fw wisfior the urpose of permittingthe worm 39 to-b'e' 'sconnecbed from the pinion 38 in order thatmm-rm'al' my 'h set in any desird:

.BQSiti n with relation to :the mm 28.- Than"- neaier tdth'a arm 28 thearm 31 is stf .thegrg diet .dptetlqa'pdfoi th aaqk' gi .n arsimi in .heW m; 9 il l bp fighil herpinion 59, and at 65 with a block 66 adjustablysecured to a sleeve 67 slidingly mounted on the main shaft 6. The end 68of the sleeve 67 takes against a large flange 69 carried by a secondsleeve 70, also slidingly mounted on the main shaft. The upper side ofthe flange 69 is adapted to engage with a horizontally disposed plate7:3 secured to the lower end of the boss 14. The flange 69 is therebyprevented from rotating. A spring 73 which loosely embraces the mainshaft 6, is interposed between one end of the sleeve 70 and a bracketwhich serves to support the middle of the shaft 6 and thereby prevent itfrom buckling. The action of the spring 73 is such that it tends to movethe sleeve 70 to the left, viewing Fig. 1. and force the flange 69 awayfrom the outer end of the percussion hammer or lever 10. The leftwardmovement of the sleeve 70 under the action of the spring 73, carrieswith it the sleeve 67. so that the link 63 is moved in a direction toforce the weights 56 and 57 toward the main shaft. When the main shaftis rotating the the requisite speed, the weights will of course bethrown outwardly, and the rods 59 seek the vertical, as shown in thedifference in the positions of the rods 59 in Figs. 1 and 3respectively. The movement of the weights 56 and 57 outwardly pushes thelink 63, and with it the sleeve 67, to the right against the flange 69,so that the latter is positioned over the outer free end of thepercussion hammer or lever 10, and at the same time the spring 73 iscompressed. "When the main shaft ceases to rotate, or the rotation dropsbelow a certain speed, the centrifugal force acting on the weights 56and 57 V7111 no longer be suliicient to overcome the force of the spring73, and the latter will push the sleeve 7 O to the left, thereby movingthe flange out of the path of the upward mo've- V ment of the outer endof the percussion hammer, and if at this time the percussion hammer isunder pressure, the percussion rod 12 will be driven upwardly.

The mode of operation of the above-described detonating mechanism willbe briefly recapitulated. It is assumed that the mechanism is properlyattached to the vehicle which is to carry the explosive to the pointwhere it is to be exploded. Inasmuch as the vehicle will beautomatically guided and controlled, and inasmuch as in the presentinstance the operation of the detonating mechanism depends upon theoperation of the vehicle propelling means, the main shaft 6 mayconveniently be so connected with the vehicle propelling means as to beset in rotation at any desired time after the vehicle is under way onits errand of destruction. The rotation of the main shaft puts theweights under centrifugal force. They accordingly swing from theirnormal inoperative position, as shownin Fig. 1, to their operativeposition. as shown in Fig. 3. This change in position of the centrifugalweights causes the sleeve 67 to force the flange 69 over the outer endof the perrussion hammer 10, at the same time compressing the spring 73.Up to this point the percussion hammer has not been cocked or put underpressure, and so if any unforeseen accident to the vehicle or to itspropelling means occurs and brings the vehicle to a stop before it isbeyond the friendly territory from which it is started, the explosivewill not be detonated'where no damage is intended. The train of gearsbetween the main shaft 6 and the cross-shaft 32 will be so constructedand arranged as to cause the shaft 3:? to rotate at any desired speed,regardless of the rate of rotation of the main shaft, so that the arm 31will engage and force the arm 28 into engagement with the hook 35, asshown in Fig. 3, at an given point during the travel of the vehic e. The

swinging of the arm 28 into engagement with the hook 35 compresses thespring 20, as shown in Fig. 3. thereby cocking or putting under pressurethe percussion hammer 10. This will usually take placewhen the vehicleis safely beyond the territory from which the vehicle starts. If thejourney of the vehicle is of considerable length, the arm 31 willperform several revolutions, which. however, will not be effective onthe engagement of the arm 28 with the hook 35. The detonating mechanismis now in condition to cause the detonation of the explosive carried bythe vehicle when the propelling means of the latter ceases to operate.It is assumed that the vehicle carries just enough fuel to take it. toits destination. W'hen the fuel is consumed. therefore, the propellingmeans will stop. and consequently the main shaft 6 will cease to rotate.and the weights 56 and 58 being no longer under centrifugal force, willpermit the spring? 3 to force the flange 69 out 'of engagement with thepercussion hammer. Thercupon, the outer end of the latter will suddenlymove upwardly under the force of the spring 2!), driving the percussionrod 12 into the percussion fuse of the explosive. The explosion will ofcourse destroy the vehicle and the detonating mechanism.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A detonatingmechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosives having, incombination, percussion means for detonating the explosive, meansadapted to be connected with and to be driven by the vehicle propellingmeans for cooking the percussion means, and means for releasing thepercussion means to cause it to detonate the explosive when the speed ofthe vehicle falls below a predetermined value.

2. A detonating mechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosives havinin combination, percussion means for ('etonating the explosive, a mainshaft adapted to be connected with and to be driven by the vehiclepropelling means, connections between the main shaft and the percussionmeans constructed and arranged to cock the percussion means when thevehicle has reached a predetermined point in its flight, and meanscontrolled by the speed of the main shaft for maintaining the percussionmeans ino erative when the rotation of the shaft is a ove a certainspeed and for releasing the percussion means to detonate the explosivewhen the rotation of the shaft drops below a certain speed.

3. A detonating mechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosiveshaving, in combination, a percussion hammer, a spring connectedtherewith, a lever to compress the spring, a shaft, connections betweenthe shaft and the lever to actuate the latter to compress the spring,and a centrifugal device connected with the shaft to hold the percussionhammer under pressure of the spring While the shaft is rotated and torelease the hammer to permit it to detonate the explosive when the shaftceases to rotate.

4. A detonating mechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosives andprovided with driving means having, in combination, means for detonatingthe explosive, means controlled by the driving means for cocking thedetonating means, and means for maintaining the detonating meansinoperative when the speed of the vehicle is above a predetermined valueand for releasing the detonatin means when the speed of the vehicle fa.ls below said value.

5. A detonating mechanism for vehicles having, in combination, anormally uncocked percussion hammer. a lever for cocking the hammer,means for actuating the lever to cock the hammer when the vehicle hasbeen in travel for a predetermined length of time, means for preventingthe release of the hammer when the speed of the vehlcle exceeds apredetermined value, and means for renderin the preventing meansinoperative when t e speed of the vehicle falls below the redeterminedvalue.

6. A detonating mechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosives havinin combination, percussion means for etonating the explosive, and meansdriven by the vehicle propelling means for controlling the per cussionmeans and for releasing the percussion means to cause it to detonate theexplosive when the speed of the vehicle falls elow a predeterminedvalue.

7. A detonating mechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosives havinin combination, percussion means for cetonating the ex losive, a drivenshaft, means actuated by said shaft for cocking the percussion means,and means controlled by the speed of said shaft for maintaining theercussion means inoperative when the rotation of the shaft is above acertain speed and for releasing the percussion means to detonate theexplosive when the rotation. of the shaft drops below a certain speed.

8. A detonating mechanism for vehicles havin in combination, a normallyuncocke percussion hammer, means for cocking the hammer when the vehiclehas been in travel for a predetermined length of time,

means for preventing the release of the hammer when the speed of thevehicle exceeds a predetermined value, and means for rendering thepreventing means inoperative when the speed of the vehicle falls belowthe predetermined value.

9. A detonating, mechanism for use in vehicles carrying explosiveshaving, in combination, means for detonating the explosive, a drivenshaft, means actuated by said shaft for cockin the detonating means, anda centrifugal evice actuated by the shaft arranged to release thedetonating means when the rotation of the shaft drops below a certainspeed.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY.

